ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE SOUTH SEAS 6n 



lands and the active volcano of Kilanea that is in many respects quite 

 different from the new one of Samoa. It is an accessory outlet upon the 

 side of the giant volcanic mountain of Mauna Loa, whose main crater at 

 the summit, more than thirteen thousand feet above the sea, is active 

 only at very long intervals. It is a journey of two hundred miles from 

 Honolulu to the island of Hawaii on which Mauna Loa occurs; viewed 

 from the ocean (Fig. 7) the even slopes of the mountain rise slowly and 

 grandly to the high summit, bearing numerous secondary or " parasitic " 

 cones which have been formed by sporadic local eruptions. 



The first view of Kilauea itself is somewhat disappointing to one 

 who has recently witnessed the grandeur of the eruption at Savaii, but 

 closer acquaintance reveals many features of great interest. Kilauea 

 lies about four thousand feet above the level of the sea, and is about 

 twenty miles back from the coast. In general structure (Fig. 8) it is a 

 wide shallow basin over three miles in diameter, depressed below the 

 general level of the slopes of Mauna Loa. At quite a little distance from 

 the geometric center of the lava field which forms the floor of this basin 

 is the active fire-pit, marked during the day, as at Savaii, by a cloud of 

 vapor, and at night by a pillar of fire. 



The well-beaten trail to this center of activity leads down along the 

 terraced wall of one side to the almost level floor of the main basin. 

 In the strongest contrast to Savaii, Kilauea's lava field is remarkably 

 even ; indeed, the best areas of the former are far more broken than the 

 most irregular parts of the latter. The surface undulates more or less, 

 it is true, while here and there broken masses form hillocks and ridges, 

 but the active vent has given forth the molten lava with comparative 

 regularity. Since the middle of the nineteenth century enough rock has 

 poured out into this wide basin to reduce the height of its vertical walls 

 from more than eight hundred feet to about four hundred. 



In December last, Kilauea was unusually active after a period of 

 relative quiet. The fire pit (Fig. 9) is nearly circular in outline and its 

 walls fall in two terraces to the small pool of molten lava, about two 

 hundred feet below the natural level of the whole basin. Its general 

 structure has varied more or less in past decades, as well as its degree of 

 violence, but it has been a permanent center of eruptive activity for 

 more than a hundred years, well deserving the native name of " Hale- 

 maumau," the " House of Perpetual Fire." 



Here as at Savaii the surface of the pool is in constant commotion, 

 but the areas of incandescence are much restricted and run in parallel 

 or forking lines. Cakes of congealed lava float between these lines, and 

 when in their movements they reach the neighboring areas of greater 

 activity, they are redissolved and their fragments are thrown into the 

 air together with jets of more fluid lava. Photographs taken at night 

 (Fig. 10) exhibit with great distinctness the major and minor areas of 

 greater activity that form a network upon the surface of the whole pool. 



